


How Fears-Nothing Earned Her Name

by KittenKakt



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Cats, Inspired by The Accidental Warlord and His Pack, POV Animal, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27478834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittenKakt/pseuds/KittenKakt
Summary: Befriends-Predators, Nosy to his friends, is the first cat in Kaer Morhen to make friends with a Witcher. This is the story of his daughter, Snowy, and how she earned her name.
Comments: 86
Kudos: 743
Collections: Inspired by inexplicific Accidental Warlord AU





	How Fears-Nothing Earned Her Name

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Holding Wonder Like a Cup](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25111471) by [inexplicifics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexplicifics/pseuds/inexplicifics). 



> A GIANT THANK YOU to inexplicifics for creating such a wonderful AU and so very kindly letting all of us play in her sandbox. The potential story of Fears-Nothing really inspired me, so I humbly add my fic to the pile of admirers.

Fur-White-Like-Snow, called Snowy by her mother, and her litter are born during what her mother described as the final storm of autumn, fierce enough that no one would forget its driving rain in the face of the long, white winter. Wind rattled the windows and pushed at the door and few of the Two-Legs had a solid sleep that night. Of course, Snowy knows none of this as she was born safely tucked within the Cold Stone Halls, in a nest the Two-Legs built to honor her mother for protecting the Place of Baking Bread. A litter so late in the year is usually an ill omen, but she is born of the Cold Stone Halls and cares little for this superstition.

Even in the time of blindness, when kittens should only know the scent of their mother and the push of their siblings, Snowy knows the gentle touch and incomprehensible speech of the Two-Legs. They come to honor her mother with offerings of food and water and soft blankets for her children. The Two-Legs are right to bring tribute. 

Her mother is Shimmers-As-The-Winter, who Snowy is utterly unsurprised to find was considered the greatest beauty to walk the Cold Stone Halls. With her rare white coat, shiny, plush and immaculately kept, and eyes the color of the winter sky, even the Two-Legs acknowledge her beauty. Her claws are hooked and sharp and kept perfectly manicured, enough Snowy cannot see any flaw in their wicked, translucent curve. To be beautiful is the right of every cat, and they each are. But to be the most beautiful, to stand head and shoulders above her peers with a sparkle of her coat that was surely granted by the Queen in the Sky, that is a great honor and should be respected.

Her mother told her as much, pinning her down between pristine white paws and dragging her tongue over the white fuzz between Snowy's ears. "You are just as blessed little darling," her mother says, "you will grow to be a fine beauty. I will teach you to hone it." Snowy isn't quite sure that her baby fuzz will ever become the luxurious coat her mother sports, but her mother is clever and has no reason to lie about such things. None of her siblings have been gifted the white coat, so she cannot compare. 

Her mother shows them how to hunt when they are young, too young to leave the nesting box but old enough to peer over the side and watch their mother streak across the floor, tail waving behind like a streamer, in pursuit of a mouse. Mother chases the mouse into a small gap beneath the cabinet where the bread rolls rise. She lays on her side, reaching up in the gap and concentrating. Eventually she is, of course, victorious pulling out the struggling enemy and neatly snapping its neck.

She places the mouse on the floor, directly in the path the Two-Legs use every morning. "You can eat prey," she tells her children, "but it is messy and so much hassle. Two-Legs appreciate gifts and will give you extra treats for being clever enough to feed them."

Snowy's brothers and sister nod and speculate if mouse would taste better than the little cuts of meat the Two-Legs bring throughout the day and whether the mess might be worth it. "Blood is very difficult to take out of our fur, little one, so you must be clever enough and fast enough to hunt cleanly," her mother advises Snowy in particular. Snowy does not feel very clever or fast but she pounces her mother's tail and practices on her wobbly kitten legs.

In the morning, the Two-Legs praise Shimmers-As-The-Winter and bring she and her kittens extra tribute. 

Eventually the kittens grow coordinated enough to escape their nest box, climbing out and down and winding their way among the Two-Legs as they went about their work. Mother, with the help of the Two-Legs, always catches them and returns them in a short while. Then a merry game starts, of which sibling can escape and delay return the longest. Frustratingly, Snowy is often caught first, being smallest and a more striking color than her siblings wearing black or spotted coats.

Mother always cautions her to be careful, she is so small that a clumsy Two-Legs could cause permanent damage. "Death comes for us all in time, Snowy," her mother tells her, "but do not make it easy for her to take you home. Do not let her catch your name, lest she call you early." This lesson was passed down by her own mother, rescued by Leaps-Through-Flames from the legendary stable fire. It is said that death knew another name for Leap-Through-Flames that day, an older one, and earning her true name has allowed her the long life she has been blessed with. 

Snowy's father is as impressive as her mother, fearless and bold and striking in his own way with a spotted coat. He is of the first line Drinks-Mouseblood's children, which is something to take pride in, but not his most well-known accomplishment. He was the first cat to tame a Predator Two-Legs; he earned the name Befriends-Predators for his feat.

Occasionally he visits, telling stories of his adventures, and he has had many, even before earning his name. Once, he brings his Predator Two-Legs to visit, coaxing him every few steps so he was sure to follow. Mother is not pleased, but she allows the one of Two-Legs to hold each kitten up in turn so the Predator might gently pat between their ears. Snowy is scared, but other kittens from her father's other litters have tamed other Predators and still live and this one has been tame the longest, so she tries very hard and only flinches a little when his giant paw touches her face. He smells terrible. 

Nothing bad happens and Father is very smug. Mother tells him to return his pet to his own kind. 

Snowy and her siblings grow, Snowy not as fast as the others, smaller and dainty. She does not let this stop her, executing magnificent tackles and biting ears as fiercely as any kitten who ever tried. She learns to climb, getting the advantage of height to compensate for her light weight. 

Mother always catches her before she gets dirty, teaching her to groom before dirt sets in and clean her claws of wood splinters. Snowy finds the lessons boring, but being as beautiful as Mother is not the worst burden, even if it is not as fun as being dirty.

The kittens talk, imagining what great feats they will accomplish, fueled by stories brought to them by the older cats who visit and pay respect to their mother and warm themselves by the stone hearth. Smudge wants a Predator Two-Legs of her own. Smoke and Stripe want to explore the far meadows when summer comes, and stalk the flying things that the older cats say crunch deliciously in their mouths. Mother wrinkles her nose at them. No one asks Snowy, as she is expected to stay with Mother in the Place of Baking Bread.

Eventually, Snowy grows tired of being expected to stay in the Place of Baking Bread. It is home and wonderful and Snowy is happy there, but she wants to see elsewhere. Perhaps find her way to the big stone cave where the Predator Two-Legs play-fight. Or see the stables where her great-grandmother saved a litter of kittens. Something new.

She slips out one morning when Mother is chasing a scuttle-bug and her siblings are helping, while the Two-Legs cheer them on. The scuttle-bug is interesting, but the open door is too tempting and Snowy scoots out into the hall.

It is so much colder outside her home, but Snowy presses on, scampering close to the wall, lest any Two-Legs notice her and return her to her mother. Every so often there is a large cloth, larger than Snowy has ever seen, hanging on the wall. They are perfect for ducking behind to watch the Two-Legs feet pass, or resting behind as Snowy doesn't think she has ever walked this far before. She never realised the Cold Stone Halls were so vast.

Eventually the wall she is running against stops. There is a great wooden door, the top so high Snowy can't see it without crossing the corridor, standing firm and imposing. It must lead to the outside. Surely it is so sturdy to keep the outside out in the face of the terrible storms. Snowy investigates it, looking for a glimpse of the outside.

Snowy hears footsteps approaching and smells danger. Predator Two-Legs are coming, and who knows if they are tame like her father's pet? Snowy hides behind the cloth and thinks of being very, very small. There are three of them, pushing and cuffing each other about the ears as they pass, not unlike Snowy's own siblings.

The great door swings open easily for the Predators, allowing them to pass. A great gust of the coldest cold Snowy has ever felt whooshes in. Snowy has only an instant to decide before the great door swings shut again and she bolts for the gap, still open enough to admit one tiny kitten.

For the first time in her life, Snowy is outside. It is so, so cold and the wind blows little swirls of snow along the stone path. The sky above is a crystalline blue, with little puffs of white drifting through it. Snowy can't see where the path leads, but she can hear sounds of laughter and fighting carried on the wind and guesses the Predators she met went that way. She decides to stay where she is, close to the great door, as there are plenty of things to see.

To each side of the path, there are mounds of snow, just the color of Snowy's fur. Snowy sticks one paw into a pile and watches her paw sink in until it blends perfectly with the snow. Mother has named her well it appears; Snowy's fur is exactly as white as the snow.

Snow is colder and wetter than expected, which is disappointing. 

After exploring what she can from the path, she does not want to enter the wet snow if she doesn't have to, Snowy is growing cold and a bit bored. No one has used the great door again, so she cannot go back inside that way so she looks for another. 

There are fabric hangings on either side of the door, fluttering gently in the breeze. If Snowy can climb them, she can get higher and perhaps see a warmer place to explore. Snowy is a good climber and can surely get high enough. She sets her sights and wiggles her haunches and leaps.

Her claws find purchase as she scrambles up the cloth, quickly making progress. She can look back and see that further down the stone path more Predators than can be counted are play-fighting with metal claws. She resumes climbing.

A rogue gust of wind surges through the courtyard, shaking the fabric and Snowy with it. It is not the gentle shaking of a Two-Legs clearing and adventurous kitten from their skirts, but a violent shake, causing Snowy to fly though the air and land in a deep pile of snow.

Snowy cries in frustration, she is cold and her paws and nose are wet and she would like to go back to the Place of Baking Bread now. She tries to leave but the snow is soft and she cannot make her way out of the heap of snow that towers so tall above her head. She tries and cries and tries some more, getting colder all the while. After an eternity, Snowy curls up in a little ball, too cold to continue on. Snowy is sure Death will come for her.

Snowy is so tired. She feels herself being lifted by the nape, like Mother would do. And then everything is warm and smells of Death and Snowy supposes she will wake up in the Eternal Hunting Grounds.

Snowy goes to sleep.

  
\------------------------------------------------------------

Geralt had spent the morning observing training, Triss will not okay him for participation yet, but he still feels the need to be present. Leaving Eskel in charge, as he often does, he decides to go and check on Ciri and Jaskier, it always delights them when he interrupts morning lessons, and it is nearly time for dinner. 

On his way inside, Geralt hears a heartbeat, tiny and slow, in a place there should be no heartbeat at all. Next to the door, half-buried in the snow, is a tiny white kitten. Knowing this is no place for one so small, Geralt picks the little one up. She feels colder than he imagines a kitten aught, so he tucks her in his shirt, under his cloak, where his body can bring it warmth.

Geralt knows what to do for hypothermia but not what to do with a kitten. Aubry, he knows, has a grown cat who likes him. Geralt walks back to the training grounds, beckoning Aiden over since he is closest and asking him to send Aubry up to find him in Ciri's rooms once he is done sparring with Clovis. It could be a while; Aubry seems to be letting Clovis tire himself out before actually putting in effort.

He can feel the kitten warming up, his body heat doing its work. He is going to need assistance sooner rather than later. He sets off at a faster clip than Triss would approve of, because Jaskier knows so many things Geralt doesn't. Every cat in the keep seems to love him, surely he can help.

He cups the kitten securely and climbs the stairs to Ciri's bedroom, trying not to jostle his charge on the winding stair. It's music this morning, Jaskier is playing his lute while Ciri sings in Elder. It's not a song Geralt knows, but it seems to be a child's ditty to learn the parts of the body. Clever way to build vocabulary.

Jaskier smiles when he enters; every smile is like watching a sunrise. Ciri leaps up to give him a hug; she is such a sweet cub. "Papa!" she exclaims, arms around his middle, her head bumps where he is cradling the kitten. "What've you got?"

Geralt pulls the small ball of fur from his shirt and cups it in his hands. Ciri coos. Jaskier looks concerned.

"What happened, my love?"

"Heard a heartbeat in a snowdrift. I found her still and cold half-buried in the snow." Geralt has no idea how warm a kitten should feel but her heart sounds stronger than before which must count for something. 

"May I?" Jaskier asks, already lifting the kitten and drawing it to his own chest. He turns her around a bit before declaring, "she feels pretty good, still a bit cold, though." Jaskier opens his own doublet and snuggles the kitten inside, sitting by the fire for extra warmth. "Don't worry little kitty, the White Wolf brought you to the right place," he coos, planting a kiss on the tiny white head.

Geralt is struck with a strong longing, knowing everything when Ciri was a tiny cub would have gone so much better if Jaskier had been here to cradle her. He knows it is foolish, as Jaskier would've been much too young to have been of any help whatsoever, too young to have been Jaskier even. He forgets, sometimes, how fast humans live.

Ciri leans into his side and he hugs her close. Kissing her head just as Jaskier did for the kitten. "Will it live, Papa?"

"I don't know," he answers honestly because he never lies to his cub, and pulls her close. She has a big heart and he makes soothing noises as they watch Jaskier and the tiny bump in his doublet that is the kitten.

Eventually the kitten stirs, poking her head up above Jaskier's collar, looking around the room with interest. "Hello there little girl," Jaskier soothes, "Feeling better? Geralt brought you up here. We will get you back to your mama eventually."

She surveys the room, sinking back into Jaskier's shirt far enough that only her ears and eyes can peek over the edge. It is adorable, if Geralt was one to admit such things. Jaskier reads it in his face anyway.

Geralt hears Aubry on the stairs before he walks in, a bit sweaty, but otherwise unruffled. He obviously had hurried. 

"Look Aubry," Ciri exclaims, "Papa brought Jas a kitten!" She fishes the now awake and very much alive kitten out of Jaskier's shirt to cuddle, holding the small white ball against her cheek. The kitten stares at the witchers with wide blue eyes, but otherwise stays silent.

"Oh," Aubry rumbles, "it escaped the bakery, I take it?"

Geralt raises an eyebrow, Aubry is obviously telling the truth, but the bakery is a long walk from the training grounds. That kitten seems very small.

Aubry rubs the back of his neck, "my cat showed them to me a couple of weeks ago. That one is pretty distinctive. Not many cats are stark white all over."

Geralt has some, well many questions about that information, but as he does not spend time with friendly cats, it's probably best not to ask.

"I think she will be alright now Ciri," Jaskier fills the silence. "It's probably a good idea to take her back to her mama and let her eat." Ciri looks ready to argue, but Jaskier cuts her off, "you can visit her whenever you like in the bakery. She is too little to live on her own just yet."

Ciri nods in understanding, her disappointment permeating the air. "I promise I'll come play with you," she says to the kitten. It stretches one paw toward her platinum locks. That agreed, she tucks the kitten against her chest and looks at Aubry.

"C'mon cub, I'll show you who her mama is," Aubry leads the way to the bakery, Ciri following carefully enough to not jostle the kitten.

"Our hero," Jaskier fakes a swoon, letting Geralt catch him. "Does our Eskel know you rescue kittens in your spare time?"

Geralt's mouth twitches, his lover is so dramatic. Geralt adores him. "Quite right,” Jaskier answers. “Let's go see if we can join him in the bath before dinner."

  
\------------------------------------------------------------

Snowy is warm and is being cradled. It feels an awful lot like the time she got to ride around in one of the Two-Legs pockets back home in the Place of Baking Bread, and not at all like she would think the Eternal Hunting Grounds should. 

She opens her eyes, finding herself cradled gently by a Two-Legs in colorful silks. She has heard about him; he dens with the Great-White-Predator. Snowy sniffs, smelling DANGER and tucking back into the shirt for cover. 

She surveys the room, finding what must be the Great-White-Predator cuddling a Two-Legs kitten. He is being comforting and making rumbly noises and the kitten cuddles up. Like he is her mother. Snowy doesn't know if Predator Two-Legs have kittens, but this one certainly does. 

The Two-Legs kitten comes and lifts Snowy up, cradling her gently. Snowy forgets about the Predator in the room and tries to catch the kitten's head-fur. And then the kitten follows her father's tame Predator back home to the Place of Baking Bread and leaves Snowy with her mother.

Mother immediately sets about bathing Snowy, aggressively, cleaning anything that might have been tainted by the outside. "Snowy, where did you go?" Mother asks between licks. 

"Outside," Snowy admits sheepishly, "it was cold."

"Outside!" Mother exclaims. "It is winter, you could freeze to death!"

"I didn't," grumbles Snowy, allowing her mother to continue bathing her head so hard her eyes stretch.

"You are so very, very lucky that Death did not come for you. If she had learned your name, she would have carried you to her home and away from me." Mother settles Snowy down with her littermates, curling around all of them the way she did when they were tinier kittens.

Snowy tries to sleep, she really does. She is comfortable, with Smudge's feet in her back and Mother's tail on her nose. But worry keeps her awake. Death did come for Snowy. She picked her up from the wretched snow pile and began to carry her home. Snowy does not know why she didn't pass to the Eternal Hunting Grounds, just that she didn't. Death must have learned Snowy's name at least, which is frightening.

Snowy needs a new name, a name that Death does not yet know, so when Death returns Snowy will be safe for many years. Leaps-Through-Flames is Snowy's great-grandmother, and earning a new name worked very well for her. Snowy must do the same. This isn't getting settled tonight, so Snowy tries to sleep. 

A few days later, the Two-Legs kitten comes to play. She coos at Snowy and drags a string around for Snowy and her littermates to hunt. The Two-Legs kitten, Likes-Geese Mother says is her name, is very thoughtful, allowing each kitten to hunt in turn. Snowy still prefers to chase the head-fur of Likes-Geese and climbs her shoulders. Mother accepts tribute in the form of rubs from gentle hands.

"She belongs to the leader of the Predator clowder," Snowy says from her perch, peeking out between the pale head-fur. Snowy nibbles a funny round ear and Likes-Geese giggles. Her siblings look amazed and Snowy is very smug.

It occurs to Snowy, after a nap because playing with the Two-Legs kitten is hard work, that she KNOWS why Death left her that day. Every cat in the Cold Stone Halls knows the story, how the Great-White-Predator was attacked by poisoned barbs of his enemies and he went into a magic sleep and fought Death herself to return to his clowder. They say his spirit fiercely battled Death in the heavens until she conceded he was her equal and allowed him to return to his body. 

If Snowy could, well not tame him exactly, not like Father has done, but tame him a little, Death would pass Snowy by.

Snowy knows what she has to do. The next time Likes-Geese visits, Snowy sneaks out after her. Snowy doesn't get very far this time, Likes-Geese spots her and picks her up. But Snowy is in luck, they enter a cave full of books and papers that would crinkle if Snowy were to jump on them and three Predator Two-Legs, one of which being the one Snowy sought. Even the colorful Two-Legs is there. And a Two-Legs in swishy skirts who smells of magic and Snowy wants to  _ chase _ .

Likes-Geese sits on a plush carpet with Snowy, talking in Two-Legs speak to the others. Snowy steels her courage. She knows what she must do. It is possible it will go badly, that the Great-White-Predator will smush Snowy like a bug with his paws. That he might use a metal claw to skewer her like a scuttle-bug. But she has to try.

Like a flash of lightning, Snowy makes a break for the Predator. She runs as fast as a kitten ever has and takes a great flying leap onto the Predator's trousers and climbs as fast as she can. Thankfully he is sitting because he has a lot of leg to climb. Eventually she rounds the knee and pulls herself up.

She takes a breath, nose full of Death and Danger, and presses on. She walks forward and places two paws on his chest, hooking in her razor sharp kitten claws for balance, and SCREAMS. 

She screams the scream of a tiny kitten, one much smaller than herself, calling their mother for help. She is loud and she is fierce and she prays to the Great Queen of the Sky the call translates to Two-Legs speech. The Great-White-Predator has his own kitten, surely, surely he must understand.

And by some miracle, he does. He scoops Snowy up, bringing her beneath his chin so she might nudge where his marking glands are. Snowy rubs and rubs and rubs her face on him, purring her kitten purr. He brings her to his face and looks at her with familiar eyes. Snowy cannot help herself and she bites the end of his nose.

And he laughs, quiet and content but it's a laugh. Maybe she can tame him after all.

  
\------------------------------------------------------------

"Jaskier," Geralt says quietly, "there is a kitten screaming at me."

"Seems little Snowdrift remembers her savior. Go on, pick her up," Jaskier encourages. 

Geralt does and the tiny thing becomes ecstatic, rubbing and purring and squirming around in his hands.

"Looks like you've got a kitten now, Wolf," Eskel observes, mostly failing to hold in his laughter.

"We have a kitten," Geralt corrects, looking from Eskel to Jaskier to Ciri, who looks so pleased she might explode.

  
\------------------------------------------------------------

Snowy spends as much time as possible with her new, it seems rude to call the leader of the entire Two-Legs clowder a pet, but it does fit. She soon moves to the tower where her Predator nests with the colorful Two-Legs Sings-A-Lot and another Predator Two-Legs, Warrior-Voice. Snowy loves them both, and is content to let them gently play-fight in the nest and tire themselves out before hopping up and settling between her Predator's shoulder blades. The Two-Legs kitten, Likes-Geese, sleeps at the top of the tower and Snowy will visit her when her Predator is play-fighting with metal claws. This delights the kitten, who will twitch pieces of string for Snowy. Snowy still does not like the outside.

Snowy learns to sit on laps in the afternoons when the Two-Legs talk for hours in the place full of papers. She learns to balance herself on broad shoulders and where to put her paws to be most secure as her Predator walks the Cold Stone Halls. She learns to perch on the top of the great seat in the big cave where the Predator Two-Legs like to play-fight, and not to startle and to look on with disinterest when they are overly loud. She learns to swish her tail in time to whatever song Sings-A-Lot performs. 

Snowy soon learns the way to the Place of Baking Bread from the tower where her Predator sleeps, spending time with Mother while her Predator is in the cave full with pools of tainted water. Two-Legs enjoy being wet; it is distasteful. Mother, while not wholly approving of Snowy's choices, is immensely proud of what Snowy has accomplished. 

"You've earned your name little one, it has been decided," Mother says on one visit. Snowy pauses what she is doing; she is big enough to groom Mother's ears now.

"Will you name me again?" Snowy asks hopefully. Not every cat is fortunate enough for their mother to name them twice.

"Of course. You will always be my Snowy, but to the rest of the world you will be Fears-Nothing."

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to HeavensCrack for suffering through this as my beta.


End file.
